2014 Transgrancanaria Men’s Race

Metronomic. Methodical. Those might be the most appropriate descriptors for Ryan Sandes’s(post-race interview)performance today. Get this: from the start through 56k, he ran in the back half of the top 10. Just kind of hung out there, chilling, watching the goings on of the race through the night. Then the progression started. He came through in fourth at 71k, third at 84k, second at 94.5k, and first at 108k. From there, he said he had to work hard to maintain his position as the leader, building up a nine-minute margin over second place Julien Chorier at the finish line. As far as external appearance is concerned, though, he only looked stronger and fresher as the race progressed. Today was Ryan’s day.

Ryan Sandes breaks the tape. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell

Julien Chorier (post-race interview) was the man who was always there, all day, lingering somewhere just inside or outside the top five. Then, as men began to have problems, he slipped up in position. As late at the 108k aid station, he was running in third place behind Ryan and eventual third-place finisher Timothy Olson. But when the boys all arrived to the aid station at 119.5k, there Julien was, having passed Timothy and secured his second-place finish.

Top three men under Gran Canaria’s blue skies. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell

Timothy Olson (post-race interview) played a smart race, or it seemed like he tried his best to. He also was a lingerer, letting the wild, front-of-pack action that’s always present at these kinds of races happen without him. Somewhere around 71k, though, Timothy caught the then-leaders, Seb Chaigneau and Arnau Julià. (Both Seb and Arnau ended up dropping.) Timothy then took control or near control of the front of the race, and it almost looked like he was going to run away with things. Timothy and Ryan Sandes have a racing history together. Timothy beat Ryan at the 2012 Western States 100. That’s when both of them finished under the previous course record, but Timothy did it faster. Today the roles were reversed and it was Ryan who came out on top and Timothy who finished third.

Timothy Olson climbs into the night. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell

Fourth place Yeray Durán was my personal surprise of the day. He finished third at last year’s Transgrancanaria but was an hour back of Seb, and then went on to finish fifth at the 2013 CCC (the UTMBsister race). This year he finished fourth in a far-more-competitive field and just 50 minutes behind the lead on a course that took longer than last year to run. I think he’s on the rise! Antoine Guillon ran a smart race, spending the first half outside of the top 10 and then staying steady as others wavered later. Some of us might have to ask just who is Norwegian Sondre Amdahl? We certainly did. He was 18th at the 2013 Transvulcania and then 10th at the 2013 CCC. Today’s run was a big step up for Sondre.

In the rest of the top 10 were Javi Dominguez, who finished third at the 2013 UTMB, Cyril Cointre, who was actually leading the race for a while early on, Dylan Bowman, who several times told us that the brutal course was beating him up, and Casey Morgan.

[Editor’s Note: On Sunday morning local time, the Transgrancanaria race organization issued a press release stating that Ryan Sandes had been disqualified for not having the mandatory emergency blanket at the finish. Ryan appealed this decision and met with the race administration before the midday award ceremony. At the meeting, the organization reinstated Ryan as the champion. The organization had seen the blanket at a gear check late in the race and recognized that it incorrectly asked Ryan to show a “cover” at the finish leading to a “lost in translation” misunderstanding in which Ryan did not produce the blanket he carried.]

2014 Transgrancanaria Women’s Race

Oh Núria Picas (post-race interview), you and your ability to make running this much distance and this much vertical look easy. Núria took it easy out of the gates, rolling through the first checkpoint at 9.8k just back of early leader Francesca Canepa. But not long after that, Núria assumed the lead for good. The gap between her and second place was small at first. But she built on it slowly, minute by minute. Her progress away from the rest of the field was decisive and unwaivering. We did watch her go on a tear of sorts at 94.5k, where she came leaping and bounding into the aid station after hammering the previous 15k-ish at the same pace as some of the guys in the top 10. Mostly it looked like she was having a pretty good time.

Núria Picas wins the 2014 TGC. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell

The women’s race played out in a far more straightfoward manner than the men’s. Only the early women’s pace was harried thanks to Francesca Canepa’s(post-race interview) bullet off the start line. It seems like she got her senses about her sometime in the first 20k or so, and she slowed into a more conservative pace. Francesca is known for going ahead steadily when others have problems late in races and this is exactly what happened today. She ran in third position for quite some time until, late in the race, she assumed second place from Fernanda Maciel and kept it until the finish line.

Francesca on the move, early on. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell

Fernanda Maciel (post-race interview) found the last spot of the podium after a day (well, night and then day) in which she moved well and intelligently. It’s hard to get it all right in a race as difficult as this one, but it seemed that she got pretty close. She did wane a bit in the last third of the race, and Francesca Canepa was able to pass her. But it seemed like her issues were short lived because she stopped purging time to Francesca and she rallied just a short distance behind Francesca to the finish. After a rough 2013, it seems like Fernanda knows exactly what she wants and how to get it this year.

At the Transgrancanaria finish. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell

Fourth-place finisher Ildikó Wermescher ran smart, spending the early part of the race in the back of the top 10 and then moving up as the race progressed. Uxue Fraile and Nerea Martinezran together! Like, the whole way, we think. Talk about riding some highs and lows together! Magdalena Ostrowska-Dołęgowska, Ester Alves, Laureda Tirepied, and Helen Allisoncompleted the women’s top 10.

Thank You!

Thank you to our field helpers, Ian Campbell and Miguelito de Tenerife, and thank you to our CoverItLive moderators, David Boudreau, Andy Noise, Nick Pedatella, Kim Wrinkle, Leon Lutz, and Travis Trampe. It takes a village!

Meghan Hicks is iRunFar.com's Senior Editor, a Contributing Editor at Trail Runner magazine, and a columnist at Marathon & Beyond. The converted road runner finished her first ultramarathon in 2006 and loves using running to visit the world's wildest places. For more information on Meghan and her adventures, please visit her personal website.All posts by Meghan Hicks

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